LIGHTS, CAMERA, FASHION!

Fashion has been around for thousands of years. It is not an aspect of life that everyone really cares about, but to others, it is what their entire existence revolves around. From lacy ball gowns to ripped jeans, fashion is constantly changing throughout society. Down below shows a timeline of how different fashion trends have changed over the years:

1000-1300 (The Middle Ages): Women were seen wearing anything that would help to keep them warm, while men were clothed in armor or just plain work clothes.

1600: When this time period began, expensive materials, such as satin and silk, were very popular… of course, that is if you could afford them.

1630: Women only wore long dresses/skirts and caps on their heads while men were clothed in suits and tight pants (kind of like leggings).

1790-1840: During the late 1700s, women’s style changed from ball gowns to delicate, high-waisted dresses. However, later on in the early 1800s, French fashion became extremely popular, and large skirts soon made their way back into the picture.

1856: This was the year when a huge part of modern fashion was invented, synthetic dye. This dye allows clothing to be any desired color.

1900: As a new century began, women’s skirts went from being long and voluminous to a little bit shorter and not so loose. Men’s pants now went all the way down to their ankles instead of just to their knees.

1920-1930: These few years were when both the t-shirt and jeans were invented. Women’s skirts got even shorter than before, and men’s Levi jeans were very trendy.

1960-1970: After a long run, all clothing became a lot looser/more revealing, as well as it now being accepted when women wore pants.

1980-present: 80’s fashion was all about lots of colors and big hair. These years were filled to the rim with self-expression. Although 2018 is a very different time period, we still continue to grow off of 80’s fashion. Today’s fashion is constantly evolving, while simultaneously bringing back trends from the past.

As shown above, fashion trends have been changing and growing into something new for thousands of years. The ironic thing is that even though new ideas are occurring, we continue to go back to old ways. Even in the 1800s, the long, poofy skirt trend was brought back after almost two thousand years. So, not only are past ideas being brought back now, but they were brought back long ago as well.

An article written by Andrea Cheng, a fashion enthusiast, shows a handful of the fashion trends that have returned back into the minds of youth from the past. Some of her observations include, “…straw bags, fanny packs, coin pendants, cat-eye framed glasses, power suits, white tights, giant hoop earrings, chunky sneakers, wide, black headbands, white boots, and logos written on clothing.” This leads viewers to the conclusion that with adolescents now wearing clothing from many years ago, our future fashion industry may be much different than what it is now.

Look around yourself at school, work, or even the mall. What are youth wearing these days? Are they in new, modern clothing, or is their outfit choice a blast from the past? Soon enough, today’s youth will be the next fashion icons. They will be the ones to set what you should and should not wear. Will future fashion hold trends from many years ago, or are new ideas soon to be brought into the spotlight?